Pianist Andrew von Oeyen = Transcendental Music

I've never discussed this with another living soul but what goes through your mind when you are listening to an orchestra performance? I let my mind interpret the music. I can hear the wind blowing through the trees, see dragonflies dancing from plants to plant, or the ripples in the water. Most often depending on the piece I can see horses running fiercely in the wild or the gentle nuzzles of a mare to her foal. I assume that everybody has their own visions of sugarplums that dance in their head?

Last night after several wonderful classics were performed by the OKC Philharmonic orchestra, Conductor Joel Levine introduced Andrew von Oeyen. This handsome charismatic young man humbly took the stage and took me on a transcendental journey. The talent and passion of this artist transported through his fingers, the piano keys and into my mind. Normally the orchestra just becomes a blur while I daydream to the music. However, between the starburst shine from his patent leather shoes and his passion for the music moving from his head, shoulders, hands and heart to produce the most hypnotic transformation, I was awestruck. I didn’t know that Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 or better known as ‘Emperor Concerto’ could have such an emotional impact on me. Believe me I’m no symphonic aficionado, I don’t know the difference between a Chopin and Beethoven unless it’s printed in the program but I was moved.

I enjoy singing but I can’t read sheet music, my artistic talents are expressed in other mediums than music. However, luckily the musical talent family gene skipped only a couple of generations, my grandmother Williams, played the piano and my darling daughter plays the clarinet. I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying her to Jr. High and High school practices & performances and especially seeing the talent in so many a young individuals. I admit, after her graduation I was missing that exposure to orchestra music. Therefore, my experience with the OKC Philharmonic and special performance by Andrew von Oeyen was certainly an unexpected pleasure. The audience was told that Oeyen left Paris, flew through Chicago and arrived in OKC at 7:15 for the 8 pm performance. It was flawless which communicates the professionalism of not only Oeyen but the OKC Philharmonic. Thanks to my special friend who thoughtfully invited me to such a transcendental musical experience.

http://www.vonoeyen.com/

Non-New Years Resolution

I have a love/hate relationship with New Years resolutions.  We've all done the 'going to eat healthier', 'going to exercise more' and such.  The push is always on for the first couple of months of the new year, then life gets in the way, our good intentions go to the sidelines and ultimately you feel like a failure.  So I broke my own rule with a resolution for my photography interest.  So far I'm sticking with it for my 'Photo a Day Challenge'.  Its progressing well and I hope at the end of the year I can say 'I did it'.  However, with the photographs I get feedback or positive reinforcement.  People respond to my postings, saying they like it or asking where it was taken, so I have a built in support system. 
Writing in this blog is another story.  However, I do them for very different reasons.  Photography is a passion while my writings are often passionate. To me that makes them apples and oranges but they're both great to eat. With my photographs, I want the world to see them.  With my writings, they are more for me.  I think the good bloggers are consistent and build a readers audience.  One of my many excuses for why I don't promote my blog is that I'm not an english major.  I know there are many grammatical errors but I write more from the heart and often in a fury trying to get the words onto print. I don't know if anybody will care what I write but once again I predominately write for my own release, rant, whatever you want to call it. 
I recently suggested to someone near and dear to my heart to use a blog to express their feelings they were keeping pent up inside them.  I'm great at giving advice........  Maybe someday I'll publish them for the world to read, then again maybe not!

You Only Get One Chance to Make a First Impression

This is one of my favorite life observations but don’t misunderstand, I am not the fashion police.  However, we have become an increasingly laid back, super casual society.  I frequently cross many socio-demographic lines with both my personal and professional life but I always try to properly dress for the occasion.  Early in my career, I educated myself with all the propaganda on how to dress for success for upward mobility.  I will grant you that some application of logic is necessary, I don’t usually wear business clothes when I’m at the barn or in the art studio but conversely I also don’t wear t-shirts and cutoffs to a business meeting.  So when did nonconformity to the social norm or dress code become so widely accepted?

We’ve all seen the Worst of Wal-Mart photos and experienced seeing people in their house shoes or pajama bottoms going into local businesses.  I’m so tired of flesh belts and plumbers cracks faux paus that I’m about to start distributing Emily Post’s 1922 edition of ‘Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home’.    Recently I stumbled upon the National Poker Championships on TV, it’s a $20K buy-in invitational game, featuring a record $1.8 million purse, with the winner taking home $750K. So maybe they are trying to reach a younger demographic with tennis shoes, faded jeans and t-shirts but why lower the standard of such a prestigious competition?  I miss the romance of the John Gage character played by Robert Redford in Indecent Proposal with his Clark Gable style, class and elegance.  That’s how you get me to watch the National Championships! (OK, so he did ‘buy’ Demi Moore in the movie but that’s a different topic of discussion.)  Maybe it’s because I grew up watching programs where June Cleaver wore her dress & pearls to clean house or movie classics where the gentlemen and ladies always wore their hats and haberdashery.

Now before you get your knickers in a knot, I don’t want to hear the excuses that I can’t afford those kinds of clothes or I’m not dining with the Queen.  You are however, in a public place, sometimes with a group or organization or maybe just representing your business or community.   There is no intention of snobbery here but sometimes I wonder if a large percentage of the human population doesn’t think about the non-verbal message they are sending.  I’m not into reading tags, brands or labels and I’m about as frugal as they come.  Everyone can dress for less for any occasion, with a few modest basics, some accessories and a quick glance in a full length mirror. Stacy and Clinton, from TLC’s What Not To Wear have demonstrated with some tough love for all shapes, sizes, ethnicity's, ages and occupations that dressing for how you want to be perceived immediately builds their confidence.

Everyone is familiar with the saying don’t judge a book by its cover, but if we’re looking to invest in or with that book, you better believe that judgment is going to play a large part in the decision making process. Sloppy dress could mean sloppy service. You disagree? As you are the image of your business or organization, look the part so that nobody has to second-guess your profession or role.  So if it takes as little as 8 to 30 seconds for people to form a lasting impression about you, outward appearance is a good place to start. It’s not a perfect world that we live in so, whether it is your career or social life, it's important to remember ‘You only get one chance to make a good first impression’.

Customer Service Needs Small Town Mentality

When my daughter was young, I always told her 'Don't do anything you wouldn't want me to know about, because it will beat you home'!  Those that live in a small town know how this works and it's so true.  As a business owner, the way you treat your customers should be based on the same philosophy.

My first job when I was a teenager was with a local Sears department store.  During our new employees training, the motto 'The Customer Is Always Right' was pounded into our heads.  Now we all know the customers are not always right, but if you approach the situation with that mentality its a win-win for all involved.  Customers need to feel validated in their concerns which may simply gain you some common ground and diffuse a bad situation by acknowledging their problem.  Simply saying something like 'I'm sorry about the misunderstanding' or 'lets see how we can fix this problem' will satisfy some initial concerns.  Sometimes you just need to take a hit to keep the customer relations solid.

We used to say 'Do something good and people tell three others but do something bad and they tell ten'.  I think with todays cyber-communications this is woefully inaccurate.  This makes doing the right thing, even if their wrong, so critical to customer service.  The small town mentality refers to the fact that you will see these people outside of your business, it may be in church, at school functions or other public places but if you have left them with a bad taste in their mouth, they will spread the word everytime they see you, your employees or your business.  So fix it quick, don't ignore their concerns and take the high road as much as you can.  It's good business so don't give them the chance to make it personal.  The good part about the small town mentality is they will build a sense of loyalty to your business because you've treated them with compassion and respect.

Do You have a Dirty Mind?

I loathe 'dirty minded' people.  Yes, if you are reading this you are a curious sort and couldn't resist the title.  However, you might be mildly surprised to find that my reference to a dirty mind comes from my perspective of trash and litter.  I love the tourism industry, economic development and community development.   I adore new and transitioning destinations and business services but sometimes WE are our own worst ENEMY. 
It's litter, public enemy number one.  For reference, trash/litter is like soil/dirt.  Its soil when its on the land, its dirt when its under your fingernails.  Trash is in our garbage cans, dumpsters and land fills but its litter that blows across our fields, sits in our store parking lots, etc.  Litter is the most common and easiest defamation of a business or communities image.  We all talk about the reasons why people litter and ways to change those mindsets.  As communities we boast and brag about our recycling centers, as individuals we boast about using paper over plastic, as educators we focus on changing the mentallity of our children, our future but what about our corporate businesses? I work near a major interstate highway where over 30,000 vehicles pass daily.  Of course, we have capitalized that opportunity by making a large number of fast food chains available for the traveler.  With the center of town several miles off the interstate, often times being the fast food capital may be the only perception of our community many people may have.
Recognizing the philosophy of 'you only have one chance to make a first impression', we have various civic groups and organizations that volunteer their time to clean up the ditches and center mediums along the high traffic areas where litter is a recognized problem.  I found I could easily differentiate between a Sonic straw and a McDonald's straw, that most litters smoke Marlboro's, they also drink Mountain Dew and that someone needs to build a better rubber bungee strap.  While I cursed these 'dirty minded' people under my breathe, I stood there straightening my fatigued back and noted that NONE of the fast food restaurants had trash cans near their drive-thru or exits! Duh!
So, with the wisdom of the ages, our Chamber and Beautification committee's made subtle requests of the local fast food restaurants to consider providing these containers to deal with the growing litter problems.  Difficult yes, but slowly the trash receptacles started to appear.  Guess what happened next?  Of course you do, people were using the cans!  Boy, did they use the cans and those managers couldn't keep up with the volume of trash produced, nor the priority on getting those containers emptied before the trash spilled out and littered the ground.  Even with overflowing containers, people were still trying to do the right thing and made aggressive attempts at jamming sacks and cups from their previous destination into these trash cans.
Since I could clearly see the overflow problems from my drive-thru lane, I often informed the employees at the windows about the overflow.  Several amusing responses were given including 'Yeah, we don't have time to empty it' or 'I just hate that thing, its such an eye sore'. 
Given the wonderful wind conditions that we are often blessed with, not responding in a timely manner did help eliminate the problem for some of those businesses.  Now as you pull back onto the interstate you can look out across the landscape of farmlands, pastureland and waterways to see the glimmering reflection of plastic sacks and cups, styrofoam containers and condiment packets.  I always reminisce of the 70's commercial of an Indian Warrior standing looking at the litter. 
Now I make it a habit of surveying for trash cans at the fast food and retail businesses.  I noticed in one community the local Wal-Mart put trash cans in their parking lot, located next to shopping cart returns.  Better yet, people were using them.  So why does it appear that it's a management decision and not a corporate one?  Our fast food managers along the interstate must have gotten together and decided to present a united front because they ALL took out the trash cans as you exit their property!  Braum's did respond by saying they send employees out to pick up trash in their frontage area.  Really?  So, I challenge each of you to take the initiative to ask those business managers of your Wal-Marts, Taco Bell, KFC, Arby's, McDonald's, Braum's, Taco Mayo's... and any other business contributing to the growing litter problems in our great state to give people that chance to do the right thing! 
Are you 'Dirty Minded'?

Wrangling Community Volunteers

Bringing a diverse group of creative volunteers together for a productive outcome can sometimes be a challenge.  Just like the skills used in handling livestock with minimum stress the same process also works with people.  Giving them the ability to see where they are supposed to go, giving encouragement through mild pressure and correcting their direction when they turn the wrong way.  These 'handling' techniques give a sense of impowerment and keep the synergy of the herd going.

However, herd characteristics continue to draw parallel lines with volunteer groups.  The 'lead cow' is critical to keeping the herd going in the right direction while not moving too fast ahead of the others.  Rouge cattle sometimes take off in different directions and can often distract others.  They have to immediately be brought into line before they cause the whole herd to stampede out of control.

With patience, skills and encouragement, wrangling volunteers can be very rewarding when you reach the intended destination.

Head em' up, Move em' Out